Reading the Bible in 1 Year

The Nation of Israel - Reading the Bible in 1 Year

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Haunted Little Lending Library - it's Spooktacular

I've heard of haunted houses and haunted graveyards or even creepy crypts
But have you ever heard of a haunted Little Lending Library . . .? 

Well, now you have. See that ghost peering out the window at you -- or the spirits floating in the wind just above the doors?
Yep...my little lending library (which just happens to match my house--see the house in the background?) is haunted--at least during the month of  ShOctober ;D 

I just couldn't leave it alone...you might say I was haunted by the idea of decorating the little library. And, if you take a moment to look really closely, you'll see witches flying across the front and pumpkins and bats blowing in the breeze, just underneath the eaves. But that's not all...there's more to come.

We (as in my husband) will be installing a couple more things, including a teeny-weeny chandelier -- that will really light up (if everything goes according to plan). 

And another classic sconce on the inside wall of the library. 

I guess you can tell, I never had a dollhouse and always wanted one. But this is even better. My little library gets a lot of traffic because it's right on the bike path, next to a busy street. So, people stop by all the time to "check-out" a book. Of course it's all on the honor system. Books  are free to take and keep, I just ask that, sometime in the future, those who have taken a book, drop by one of the books they want to donate. It's a "pay-it-forward" system.

When I asked my husband to build me this lending library, he went all out. He installed hardwood flooring, wallpaper and even a chair rail on the inside. He had to handcraft the tiny siding to match the Victorian Gingerbread on our house and then he installed a cedar shake roof. I love this little library but, like I said, for the month of October it's totally haunted. 





Sunday, October 7, 2018

Wishing y'all a Spooktacular Fall

Halloween is lurking just like a ghost. . .around the corner. And with so many negative spirits haunting our recent past, I was thinking... (yep, I know that's a surprise) we should do something festive and fun to celebrate the coming holiday.

This is how I've been spending my energy lately...preparing our family's new "Dead and Breakfast"...for any stray ghouls who want to stop by unexpectedly.

And I just had to make a Day of the Dead pumpkin. It was super simple. I painted a regular pumpkin from the garden. Of course, I spent a little extra time trying to pick just the right one.

Then I covered the shell with black paint, which was super simple to do. But you could use the pumpkin in its original shade, or opt for a green or white gourd.
The problem with white gourds for me is that I always envision ghostly images instead...

And I paint those little gourds into characters... hey, did I mention I'm a writer? Characters are always popping into my head and inspiring me...but I digress.


And that was just the beginning. We decided to build our own family graveyard...in the front yard.



And it turned out pretty realistic looking. But then we added our fun sign...
Which I painted on an old piece of wood my husband shaped for me with his jigsaw.

And we  hung it out over the graves. 



But that wasn't enough. We also made a scarecrow.

And a ghostly figure out of chicken wire, which we painted with glow-in-the-dark spray paint.



And hung little scarecrows on the fence, in my little flowerpots. Then I wanted witch brooms to hang more lights. But when I found out how much they cost, I thought, I can make some instead. So, I ran to the local feed store and bought a bale of straw and stopped at a lumber store to buy some dowels. The straw was $11.99 at Side Saddle Tack and the dowels were about $3.00 a piece at Mr. Plywood. So for about $30.00, I got more than enough materials to make 6 brooms. The brooms were really easy to make. I laid out some strapping tape on the bale and placed the straw on the top of the tape and simply rolled  the dowel around the tape. I used a bit of twine and voila! I had my brooms. 


The hardest part of making the brooms was keeping my little Freya (my German Shepherd) busy by throwing her ball for her.

Then we lined the brooms up the walkway and wrapped them in lights.


And at night, they are seriously Spooktacular!
Don't they look like they're on fire? An unexpected scary little touch.

Plus, I hung a beautiful fall wreath on the front door.



And made some candy corn cushions for my benches out front (you can check out my previous post about how I made those but here's a quick picture)
 Or two...

And they're reversible, so I can use them through Thanksgiving. 

Maybe we're getting carried away, but we  keep adding to our display.
I don't know...what do you think?

Anyway, I'm hoping you have a Spooktacular Fall Y'all!!!


Friday, September 14, 2018

CAKE-N-BAKE - THEY'RE FUN TO MAKE

Everyone who knows me, knows I love to make fun characters and the easiest way to do that is to bake...

I've made so many different types of cakes, cookies and cupcakes
I even love to make "Finger" food
But my latest cake was so much fun to make

My son loves to play the guitar...so you guessed it, for his birthday I had to make a guitar or like a friend told me, "It's a bass" but I never claimed to be musical. I just love to bake.

It really was simple. All I did was cut out the shape of a guitar on a piece of paper and lay it on top of a sheet cake. I cut it out and then laid the fondant over the shape. I was in a hurry because I had a bunch of people coming for dinner so I didn't have much time to throw the cake together. Plus, I suddenly had to frost a cake for my daughter too. (My 34 year old son and my 30 year old daughter share a birthday). I thought we had someone else bringing my daughter's cake but they had a "cake disaster" in the car. Luckily, I had a couple extra layers of cake in the fridge and simply had to frost them.

And look at that candle on top...it was sparktacular!

Look at the differences in the flames from the candles on Jake's cake and Kara's cake.

But no matter the flame on the food, it looks like someone liked the flavor

Because that food was finished in no time.

(Are there any other bakers out there in blogland? I'd  love to hear what you're making, baking or creating.)








Thursday, September 6, 2018

HALLOWEEN CANDY CORN CUSHIONS - a DIY Project

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!

AND FALL MEANS DECORATING FOR THE SEASONS


It's no secret, I love to decorate for every season, holiday and/or event and I wanted to share my latest homemade "make" with you. My latest sewing adventure was to make some new cushion covers for our benches out in the front yard. I had a vision in my head of candy corn and "sew" I went to work to create my vision. And this is what I came up with: an assortment of Halloween Candy Corn Cushion covers and pillows. 
But on top of  loving to decorate, I also love to save money. So I went to Joann Fabric and Craft Store during the Labor Day Sale and bought some orange and white striped fabric and some yellow fabric. I simply had to piece the fabrics together to make my little candy corn pillow. I sewed the fabric with the right sides together (which just means the sides you want showing have to be laid face-to-face).

Then to make this square into a pillow, I cut it into a triangle and sewed it up the sides. I stuffed the triangle with fluffy batting material and then hand-stitched the edge of one corner.


After I had the pillow put together, I went to work on the cushion covers. I needed to fit the material right to the foam cushions because I didn't have a pattern. It was easy to do. All I did was simply drape the fabric over the cushion to get the proper measurements for cutting the fabric. I left an extra inch around the edges (as my seam allowance). You really only need a quarter inch for a seam allowance, but I always prefer to have a little extra (just in case). I used my pressure foot on my sewing machine as the guide to keep the lines straight as I sewed. And it was really easy.



I also wanted to be able to use the cushion covers for more than one month so on the backside I used a solid orange color, which I think is more versatile. That way, I can simply switch out the pillows and use this solid orange colored side all the way through the Thanksgiving holiday. All I have to do is have an assortment of pillowcases for every season and/or holiday...So, I'd better get back to my sewing!


Anyway, my decorating has only just begun ;D But I wanted to wish you all a Happy Fall!

And if you are making any homemade decorations for the upcoming holidays, please let me know about them so I can visit your blog and/or website. I love to get inspiration from other crafty people.

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

My first annual L.A. SCBWI conference

If you've ever gone to an SCBWI event, then you already know how jam-packed with keynotes, various speakers,  workshops, classes, parties and more these conferences can offer. BUT the annual summer conference is the no-holds barred, throw-down event of the year. And I'm going to show you... with just a few pictures that a NON-photographer person (me), sitting in the audience took.

The days began with keynote speakers like Libba Bray (can I just say WOW! - because she was funny, poignant and just plain filled with heartfelt moments (okay I'm girl crushing for a moment))
And then after the keynote, we would head off to our workshops, which had such great speakers as the Mavin of Social Media: Debbie Ohi. who taught us tricks, hints and tips of how to get out into the world...without ever leaving our seat. Really.  

And, if awe-mazing keynotes and wonderful workshops weren't enough to whet your appetite, we also had some tempting treats..
And, yes, I do mean REAL treats that were served during our lunch with . . .

Lois Lowry

LOIS LOWRY. . . Yes, can you believe it? Lois - because after this session - I felt that we could have been on a first-name basis ;D and she entertained us while we ate...SERIOUSLY.

She told us all about her inspirations, process and just some of the things about her life.

And if that wasn't enough to make your jaw drop and your head hit the table... they threw parties you wouldn't believe. There was a street party with prizes for the best book costumes. Just look:

And we literally danced in the street

And to top it off, I made some wonderful friends that I'm sure I'll be connecting with again in the future:
All in all, it was a trip I'll never forget and if you get the chance and can make your way to L.A. one day, you should definitely do it.


Wednesday, May 23, 2018

DIY Fingernail design with Words

So I was going to an SCBWI Writing Conference in Oregon and wanted to do something fun and artsy with my fingernails 'cuz that's something I can do at home...usually with some help from my daughter-in-law ;D...so we decorated my nails--or maybe I should say Fatina decorated my nails ;D

Anyway, I didn't want to spend a fortune on a manicure so this was an EZ, inexpensive way to have some fun at my fingertips.

First you paint your fingernails white, then you cut out some newspaper clippings and soak them in alcohol. Place the newspaper clipping on your nails, rub them with a blunt object so that they transfer without ripping the paper and then pull the clipping away. Voile' you will have words on your fingernails.

(I did a youtube video of this process but it isn't working right now...sorry)



If you have any questions, let me know. And if you try this out, please send me a picture and share it in the comments below. And Happy Writing!



Tuesday, April 3, 2018

PENGUIN POPS


If you want to make these fun Penguin Pops, just follow the EZ steps below. 

Of course you need penguin pop molds, which you can get at candy making supply shops like Blake's Decorette Shop in Portland, Oregon

Then you need some white chocolate and some food coloring: Orange and black will do. You also need a food quality paintbrush...or two. All you do is paint the food coloring onto the mold.

Then spoon in your melted white chocolate.
Put your molds in the refrigerator to chill for a couple hours and voilÃ.

Penguin Pops


.